Reader
Submission - Santa Barbara-King Harbor Record
Shatterd
By Bill Gibbs
Afterburner
(Ventura based 52' racing cat) shattered the 81
mile Santa Barbara-King Harbor course record Friday
as she was the first yacht to finish for the third
year in a row.
The
2nd biggest Southern California race, SB-KH is
one of 2 races that combines multi's with the
monohull Grand Prix ULDB classes. The Transpac
cuts down attendance in odd years, but we had
several notables in the 70+ foot sled range. The
fastest mono was Victoria 5, a TP 52 recently
modified out-of-class with water ballast and a
canting keel. 125 boats in all, 14 multis.
There
was wind. Nice and strong most of the day. 5-6
at the start, then 8, then 12-15. Then 18-22,
and back down to 12-16 at the end. We had one
heck of a race. Profilgate (Latitude 38 magazine's
big 60' cat),opened a big hole at the weather
pin, which we graciously accepted. Then there
was some excitement as we footed off on starboard
in front of the multi class, then in front of
the ULDB-A class which had started at the same
time, but on a separate line down wind. It got
a bit close with the lead 83' mono Sorcery, but
we broke the overlap and got in front. Just then
the wind piped up, our weather hull lifted, someone
on the mono yelled "Flame On!" and we
departed the scene at warp speed.
Lots
of work with sail changes and guessing the wind
shifts, which we did well enough. A fast reach
to Anacapa, decent wind down the back, then downwind
in strong winds to King Harbor. The couple hours
downwind under full main and spinnaker in 20+
winds was quite challenging. Then a fast finish
inside a very small harbor.
Last
year we set a new course record at 6:41:05. This
year we broke our own record with 5:47:05, almost
an hour faster. We'll have trouble beating this
time, I think.
On
handicap we finished 9th in the ORCA multihull
class. 1st was Exit (a home built, hard chine
F31 look alike), 2nd was Tiger-Tiger (a 27' cat),
3rd was Geronimo (27' Warrior cat). All sailed
very well. No Regrets (F-28R) and Profligate shredded
spinnakers off Point Dume along with 4 or 5 monos
(round ups & broaches) who all found the 25+
there a bit much. Exciting sailing!
Needless
to say, we had a great time. Thanks to both the
King Harbor and Santa Barbara Yacht Clubs for
hosting this event.
Bill
Gibbs
Afterburner
Full
results at www.sbyc.org
